A SOLDIER, first class, lashing out against Shinra alone...this is familiar. Cloud remembers this. Remembers--Genesis. This is him. The one they were hunting, those missions with Zack and the Turks.
But there's more. Genesis keeps talking, and the more he says, the more dread seems to weigh heavily in Cloud's stomach, until finally he drops the important part. And Sephiroth. A horrible truth Sephiroth couldn't handle, with disastrous consequences.
Everything that happened in Nibelheim that day, and the five years that followed...this man started it all. Cloud turns to stare at him, and he's standing guard at Shinra Mansion, listening to the sound of Sephiroth's pacing behind that door, listening to the indistinct words of his muttering. And he's frantically firing his rifle in the stifling heat of the flames, he can't let Sephiroth get to Tifa, he promised he'd save her, and--
Cloud takes in a shaky breath, one hand clutching the bar in front of him, and he shouts Sephiroth's name, but the man ignores him, speaking instead to the monster called Jenova. He's picking up Zack's sword and running, pure adrenaline and rage making up for the massive size of the blade in his merely human hands. A cold, piercing pain as Sephiroth's blade dangles him over the void--
Cloud doubles over with a gasp, one hand clawing at his chest, but there's no blade, no wound. There's just--
"Genesis." Wild eyes find Genesis' gaze and hold it. "It was you. It was you, you bastard--"
Cloud launches himself off his stool and lunges at Genesis, swinging his fist with his full strength behind it at the man's face.
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But there's more. Genesis keeps talking, and the more he says, the more dread seems to weigh heavily in Cloud's stomach, until finally he drops the important part. And Sephiroth. A horrible truth Sephiroth couldn't handle, with disastrous consequences.
Everything that happened in Nibelheim that day, and the five years that followed...this man started it all. Cloud turns to stare at him, and he's standing guard at Shinra Mansion, listening to the sound of Sephiroth's pacing behind that door, listening to the indistinct words of his muttering. And he's frantically firing his rifle in the stifling heat of the flames, he can't let Sephiroth get to Tifa, he promised he'd save her, and--
Cloud takes in a shaky breath, one hand clutching the bar in front of him, and he shouts Sephiroth's name, but the man ignores him, speaking instead to the monster called Jenova. He's picking up Zack's sword and running, pure adrenaline and rage making up for the massive size of the blade in his merely human hands. A cold, piercing pain as Sephiroth's blade dangles him over the void--
Cloud doubles over with a gasp, one hand clawing at his chest, but there's no blade, no wound. There's just--
"Genesis." Wild eyes find Genesis' gaze and hold it. "It was you. It was you, you bastard--"
Cloud launches himself off his stool and lunges at Genesis, swinging his fist with his full strength behind it at the man's face.